Our view: Fund to boost downtown Erie grows again

Saturday

Dec 16, 2017 at 2:00 AM

Up and up: The week brought more good news from the Erie Downtown Development Corp. The Erie Community Foundation announced that it was investing $2.5 million in the EDDC.

The EDDC, spearheaded by Erie Insurance executives and other Erie business leaders, is working to garner an initial goal of $25 million to $40 million to begin to remake an area of downtown Erie stretching from Perry Square north to Third Street and from Sassafras Street east to Holland Street. The Erie Community Foundation's investment joins other $2.5 million investments already pledged by Gannon University, UPMC Hamot and ErieBank. Erie Insurance has pledged $5 million.

The initiative is modeled after one in Cincinnati that leveraged $1.1 billion to restore 160 buildings and build 52 more in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, once deemed among the nation's most dangerous. In Erie, backers hope to develop market-rate housing and other amenities, such as coffee shops and grocers, to lure young professionals to reside downtown.

Buyer beware: New online shopping opportunities might be convenient to consumers. But they also have created a new market for thieves.

In one survey by Shorr Packaging Corp., 31 percent of those who responded said they have had a package stolen from their doorstep, according to the Tribune News Service. The U.S. Postal Service in November reported it expected to deliver some 850 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. That's a lot of loot.

To help guard against theft, some companies are working to deliver packages to secure drop-off locations, such as grocery stores or pharmacies. And some customers have their packages delivered to their workplaces to protect their purchases.

Whatever it takes. Let's shop smart people.

Recognition due: There is an old maxim about what to do if at first you don't succeed. The Lawrence Park Historical Society is showing its grit by submitting a newly fashioned application to get part of Lawrence Park designated as a National Historic District.

Three or four applications have failed in the past. This time, the Historical Society is focusing on the history of the design for Lawrence Park. The nation's first civic planner, John Nolen, planned Lawrence Park residential neighborhoods for General Electric workers in 1911. As Jim VanDyne, secretary of the Historical Society said, "Lawrence Park was the early work of a master."

The application first goes to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. If it wins approval on the state level, it would go next to the National Park Service to earn the national historic designation.

The need for this designation, which would aid historic preservation efforts, takes on added urgency as reports of a possible sale of GE Transportation circulate. Holding on to that heritage is vital to the region.

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